Electroactive polymers as artificial muscles [chapter]

Y. Bar-Cohen
2005 Compliant Structures in Nature and Engineering  
The potential for developing actuators with performance characteristics that rival that of muscle is increasingly becoming feasible with the emergence of effective electroactive polymers (EAP). Such polymers have many attractive characteristics including low weight, fracture tolerance, and pliability. EAP materials have functional similarities to biological muscles, including resilience, damage tolerance, and large actuation strains (stretching, contracting or bending). EAP-based actuators may
more » ... e used to eliminate the need for gears, bearings, and other components that complicate the construction of robots and are responsible for high costs, high weight and premature failures. Furthermore, they can be configured into almost any conceivable shape, their properties can be engineered, and they can potentially be integrated with micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) sensors to produce smart actuators. Visco-elastic EAP materials can potentially provide more life-like aesthetics, vibration and shock dampening, and more flexible actuator configurations. Exploiting the properties of artificial muscles may enable even the movement of the covering skin to define the character of the robots and provide expressiveness.
doi:10.2495/978-1-85312-941-4/04 fatcat:g2eeoklni5b4ljygj2px37ngzq